Monday, April 30, 2012

Maria Sharapova cruised past top-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Porsche Grand Prix, in Stuttgart, Germany. Her first title of the year included a Porsche Carrera 911.

The second-ranked player lost to Azarenka at the finals of the Australian Open and Indian Wells this year and had never beaten her rival in four previous encounters in a final.

The Russian won her 25th career title, an honor roll that also includes three Grand Slam titles. Roland Garros is the only piece she needs to complete her Grand Slam career. Therefore, she decided to start her clay season sooner than previous years to improve her game in clay courts. This was her debut in Stuttgart, a tournament played on indoor clay.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Rafael Nadal finally managed to beat Novak Djokovic in a final, breezing 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the eighth straight year and end a run of seven losses to his rival in title matches, reports the Associated Press.

Nadal wasn't troubled by the world’s top-ranked player in this match, breaking his serve five times to win his 42nd straight match at Monte Carlo. It was his first title since last year’s French Open and the 47th of his career.

Djokovic, who has been playing through grief since the death of his grandfather Thursday, said he felt emotionally drained and was unable to summon the mental strength he needed to dig deep against Nadal.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Maria Sharapova is the face of Tag Heuer's Beautiful Rebel collection. The campaign was launched last March and just a few days ago Sharapova shared some of the photos of the shoot with her fans. Take a look!

According to TIME’s sports editor Bill Saporito, Djokovic went from the “the sport’s top doormat” to World No. 1 and Serbian national hero. “While he yukked it up, he also upped his training regimen and refined his exquisite baseline shotmaking. No one has a more lethal backhand down the line. He got mentally tougher too,” he wrote.

Saporito added: "And with Nadal and Federer hounding him, staying No. 1 will be difficult. But having worked for years to get there, he'll enjoy every moment of it." Djokovic was among six athletes named to the list, joining Jeremy Lin (basketball), Lionel Messi (football/soccer), Oscar Pistorious (athletics), Tim Tebow (american football) and Yani Tseng (golf).

But this morning bad news knocked on Djokovic's door. During practice, and just a few hours from the game against the ucranian Dolgopolov, Djokovic was informed that his beloved grandfather had passed away. The player left the court in tears, and everyone expected him to withdraw from the competition. But the Serbian was able to overcome his feelings and showed up to play.

Djokovic had lived with his grandfather Vladimir during the 1999 bombings in Serbia (watch the 60 minutes video we posted some weeks ago) and recognized him with having a major influence on his career and personality. After winning Thursday's third-round match, Djokovic looked into the sky, raised his hands and wept.

French channel Canal+ captured the moment in which Djokovic was confronted with the terrible news via cell phone. Our condolences, Novak!

The world went "bananza" this week when Maria Sharapova posted a new look: long blonde hair gone, new short haircut. On her Facebook page and email, the response was immediate and overwhelming, to the point that Maria considered that "everyone got bananza". The truth is tennis nº 2 did a shoot a few days ago and sported all types of hair styles from long and short, using wigs when necessary. Even if her locks are still in the same place, Sharapova looked cool with the short hair (wig). What do you think?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Clay season begins for most players with the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. Novak Djokovic, who actually lives in Monaco, the french Gilles Simon and Rafael Nadal have already moved on to the third round.

Off the court, the glamour is taking the lead. Prior to the competition, Novak Djokovic and girlfriend had a meeting with Prince Albert and his wife, Charlene. Tennis nº 1, who currently resides in Monte Carlo, was awarded with the Vermillion Medal for Physical Education and Sports from Prince Albert of Monaco.

Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais Princier

This afternoon, one of Hollywood's tough guys, was enjoying some tennis. Jean-Claude Van Damme was all smiles while watching Rafael Nadal vs Jarkko Nieminen.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Jennifer Capriati, a former world No. 1 player, was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, it was announced Friday.

Photo: Reuters

Capriati, who won three Grand Slam events during her 15-year playing career, will be inducted July 14 at Newport, R.I, according to Reuters. Also being inducted will be former world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, Spanish legend Manuel Orantes, promoter Mike Davies and the late wheelchair tennis star Randy Snow.

"I'm thrilled. This is a dream come true and an extraordinary tribute," Capriati said in a statement, quoted by Reuters. "Tennis has been my passion and dedication for my entire life and to be acknowledged for this passion and dedication is truly icing on the cake. truly feel humbled to be a part of history and am honored to be considered among the greatest of all time."

Capriati, 36, had a career record of 430-176 record and 14 career singles crowns from 1990-2004. Besides reaching the finals in two of her first three WTA events, she won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic women's final.

She came back to the game in 1999 after a four-year hiatus and became the world's No. 1 player for 18 weeks in Oct. 2001. In fact, all three of her Grand Slam titles -- 2001 and 2002 Australian Open titles and the 2001 French Open -- occurred after her comeback.

Capriati did have troubles during her playing days. While taking a break from the game in the mid-1990s for what she called burnout, she was arrested for shoplifting and possession of marijuana.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Original 9 is a group of tennis players known as the godmothers of women's tennis. The nine female professional tennis players formed a new tennis tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit, in 1970, that was the basis for the later WTA Tour. The players rebelled against the United States Lawn Tennis Association due to an extreme inequality between the amount of prize money paid to male tennis players and to female tennis players.

For just the second time since they took their historic stand against the establishment in 1970, all nine members of the Original 9 came together in Charleston in April 2012. While a couple of reunions had taken place over the past four decades, not since 1986 had they all been in the same room, says the WTA on its Facebook page. It was a unforgettable weekend celebration with a gala dinner, a photoshoot, a Q&A panel and an on-court celebration at the Family Circle Cup! (source: WTA and Wikipedia)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Is the head-to-head Nadal vs. Federer going to be the favourite? Or will it be Nadal vs Murray? Maybe Ferrer vs Federer? Watch the video and vote for your favourite Barclays ATP World Tour Finals point! Visit the ATP Facebook page to vote.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will play a charity exhibition match on the football pitch at Real Madrid's stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu.The top two tennis players in the world will go head-to-head on 14th July, hoping to gather a record 80,000 crowd and collect proceeds for projects developed by Realmadrid Foundation and Rafa Nadal Foundation, reports Real Madrid in a press release. The previous record of 35,681 fans was set in a 2010 exhibition match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters in Brussels. Nadal is an avid fan of Real Madrid and a friend of the Merengues' top player, Cristiano Ronaldo. This summer, the Portuguese forward will sit in the stands and give Rafa and Djokovic the opportunity to score at the football pitch, by raising funds. According to Real Madrid's website the funds will "help the needy and give children a chance with educational programmes that use sports as a tool with which to achieve social integration".Nole and Rafa have already set a record of their own. The final at this year's Grand Slam in Australia was the longest in Grand Slam history, lasting for five hours and 53 minutes (5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5), with a victory for the world nº1.

Monday, April 9, 2012

ATP World Tour Uncovered shows us the glamorous side of Novak Djokovic and reveals a little bit more about his beautiful girlfriend Jelena Ristic. The couple has been together for 5 years now, and Ristic is a regular presence in the tennis circuit.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will wear new outfits from Nike's summer collection in the next French Open.

Federer's gear is discreet and dark (very appropriate for long battles in clay-courts), but has some pops of yellow neon, one of this summer's trend.
Nadal's outfit is bright red and white. The Spanish player will be fighting for his 7th Roland Garros, which will take place from 22nd May to 10th June 2012. Federer is pursuing his 17th Grand Slam singles title, an all-time record!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The CBS show "60 minutes" premiered last March an emotional portrait of world nº1 Novak Djokovic. In this interview, the Serbian player says how he coped with the constant bombings in Belgrade, and was still able to practice his tennis and grow up to be the best in the world. Don't miss this very interesting inside look on one of the top players in Tennis.

New Nike and Adidas apparel is now available for tennis fans all over the world. The spring/summer collections are designed with warm colors and new styles. Some of the players have already premiered the new gear, like Maria Sharapova in Miami.

With this victory sunday at Crandon Park, the Serbian wins his 11th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, and he is also the first player to win in Miami without losing a set.

Novak Djokovic loves playing in Miami, as his been claiming through his Facebook page and also to the press. "I've won three times here. I think that says enough about how I feel playing in Miami. I love the crowd... I have been really playing well in the last couple of years here, so this is going to be very encouraging for me prior to the clay-court season.", said the World nº1 in a press conference after the game.

The match lacked in intensity, specially due to the weak performance of Andy Murray, World nº 4. The high temperatures and humidity in Miami seemed to affect both players, and their pace in this final.

The next major tournament will take place in the glamorous hill-city of Monte Carlo, between 14 and 22nd of April. The Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (ATP World Tour Masters 1000) sets the beginning of the clay-court season.

Radwanska steps in the way of Sharapova

Photo: Getty Images

Agnieszka Radwanska won her first WTA Premier Mandatory title on Saturday, defeating World nº 2 Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-4 in the Sony Ericsson Open final, at Key Biscayne.

The Polish player said to the journalists at the final press conference that it was really important for her not to lose her serve. "It was actually I think the key on this match", stated Radwanska.